Atomisers



G. c. H. ROBERT 2, 24, 33

ATOMISERS Filed Sept. 24, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 G. C. H. ROBERTATOMISERS Feb. 9, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 24, 1957 23 54615 g;W Lew Q;

ATOMISERS Georges C. H. Robert, Paris, France, assignor to AnciensEtablissements E. Robert, Fred Vauthier & Cie, Successeurs (SocieteAnonyme), Paris, France, a company of France Application September 24,1957, Serial No. 685,868

Claims priority, application France October 1, 1956 4 Claims; (Cl.239-327) This invention relates to atomisers.

Atomisers are known which are adapted to be fixed on a flexible plasticreceptacle containing a liquid or powder, the air pressure necessary forthe delivery and the atomisation of the liquid or powder being obtainedby squeezing the flexible wall of the receptacle by the UnitedStatesPatent hand. Such atomisers are fitted with a plunger tube whose bottomcommunicates with the liquid or powder content of the receptacle, thetop of the plunger tube being adjacent an atomising orifice within theatomiser, so that when the receptacle is squeezed air travels throughthe atomiser to a discharge orifice therein and in so doing passes thetop of the atomising orifice so as to suck up and effect atomisation ofthe contents of the receptacle.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an atomiser whichcan be readily manipulated so as to allow and prevent discharge of theatomised contents of the receptacle.

According to the invention there is provided an atomiser comprising ahollow head the lower part of which is adapted to besecured to aflexible-walled receptacle so that the interior of the said lower partcommunicates with the interior of the receptacle, the head having anopen ended tubular upper part whose wall is formed with a radialdischarge orifice, axially arranged means for locating a plunger tubeadapted to beintroduced into the contents of the receptacle, saidaxially arranged means being carried internally of said head, and beingformed with an atomising orifice therethrough communicating with thehollow interior of the upper part of the head, an air passageestablishing communication between said upper and lower parts anddisposed adjacent said atomising orifice, whereby air passing throughsaid air passage will entrain the atomised contents of the receptaclewhich have passed up through the plunger tube, and a cap having acylindrical central portion disposed with the hollow interior of theupper part and a peripheral skirt encircling the said part, the twoportions of the cap being formed with apertures extending in the sameradial direction, the cap being rotatable between a first position inwhich the apertures communicate with the radial discharge orifice andpermit discharge of the atomised contents of the receptacletherethrough, and a second position in which the apertures are out ofcommunication with the radial discharge orifice and discharge ofatomised contents is therefore prevented.

Preferably, the central portion of the cap is recessed to form anintermediate chamber between the radial discharge orifice and the pointsat which the receptacle contents and air enter the upper part of thehead. The said intermediate chamber accordingly forms a uniting chamberin which atomisation occurs of the receptacle contents before they leavethe atomiser through the radial discharge orifice.

.It is thus sufficient, with a single head, to provide caps havingmixing chambers of different dimensions in'order to modify the atomisingconditions in accordance with ice the nature of the liquid and inparticular its density and its viscosity.

Preferably, the unit formed of the head and the cap is made from plasticmaterials and the cap is fixed on the head by a peripheral bead on theneck (or in the inner wall of the said cap), which bead fits into agroove in the said cap (or in the said neck) by elastic deformation ofthe material, so that the cap can be conveniently rotated in relation tothe head.

The head may be fixed on the neck of the receptacle by screwing.

In a modified form of the invention which permits the use of receptacleshaving unthreaded necks, the head is adapted to be fitted into the neckof the receptacle and fluid-tightness and maintenance of the said headon the neck are obtained by means of the cap, which fits over the saidhead and also surrounds the periphery of the neck and is maintained bythe combined action of a peripheral bead or projection in a groove.

The invention is illustrated, merely by way of example, in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an atomiser in accordance with theinvention,

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, on a larger scale, of the headprovided with the cap, this section being taken along the line 11-11 ofFig. 3,

Figs. 3 and 4 are horizontal sections along the lines II1-III and IVIVof Fig. 2 respectively,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a part of the atomiser,

Fig. 6 is a vertical section showing a modified form of atomiser and ofthe closure cap thereof, this section being taken along the line VIVI ofFig. 4, and

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section along the line VII-VII of Fig. 6.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, an atomiser head has rotatably mountedthereon, a cap Z fOrmed with a recess 3 which, in the drawings, is aposition in which a hole 4, for the discharge of the atomised jet, isunmasked.

The head 1 is provided with an internal screw thread 5 for connecting itto the neck of a flask containing liquid to be atomised. The said fiask,which is of any type having a deformable wall, is not shown in thedrawings.

The hole 4, which is formed radially in an upwardly projecting extension6 of the head 1, opens into a central cavity 7 formed in the saidextension. The head 1 comprises a tubular member 8 which is disposedwithin the lower part of the head 1 and is concentric with the cavity 7.The top 7a of the member 8 partially closes the cavity 7. The tubularmember 8 is adapted to receive the usual plunger tube 9 shown indash-dotted lines in Figure 2, and a calibrated orifice 10 in the top 7aplaces the interior of the tube 9 in communication with the cavity 7 inthe head. Apertures 11, of which there are three in the embodiment shownin Figures 1-5 are formed at intervals around the orifice 10 in the baseof the cavity 7. As shown in Figure 2, the said apertures also extendpartially into the wall of the cavity to a point above the top 7a. Thesaid apertures afford communication between the cavity 7 and theinterior of the flask on which the head 1 is screwed.

The upper edge of the extension 6 is formed with a peripheral flange 12.

The cap 2 has a cylindrical axial extension 13 adapted to engage in thecavity 7 terminating in a frusto-conical portion 15, in which is formeda recess 16 which (see also Fig. 5) communicates with the hole 4 whenthe recess 3 communicates therewith.

The cap is so shaped that the top of the extension 6 bears against theend of a circular bearing surface 17 adjoining a peripheral groove 18,in which the flange 12 is engaged by elastic deformation of thematerial;

By reason of this arrangement, the cap, while being non-detachable fromthe head 1, can be rotated in relation to the head 1 so that therecesses 3 and 16 may be brought into and out of communication with thehole 4. The cap is formed with ribs or striations 19 to enable it to beturned by hand. The rotation of the cap on the head is guided by theengagement'of the extension 13 in the cavity 7 and by the application ofthe bottom of the cap against a shoulder 20 provided on the head 2.

The two extreme positions of the cap, namely the position in which therecesses 3 and 16 uncover the hole 4 and the position in which the hole4 is closed, are defined by a boss 21 which is integral with the capencountering one or other of abutments 22 and 23 which are integral withthe head 1.

When the hole 4 is uncovered and pressure is applied by the hand to thedeformable receptacle containing a liquid to be atomised, the aircontained therein is compressed and the liquid squirts into the cavity 7through the orifice 10. At the same time, some of the coinpressed airflows through the apertures 11 and this air is deflected towards the jetof liquid by the upper walls 11:; defining these apertures. The jet isthus broken up into droplets which are suspended in the air and areagitated in the chamber formed by the cavity 7 and 14 1; of the cap andof the head before leaving through the hole 4.

The degree of atomisation is therefore affected by the s ze of theorifice 10 and of the apertures 11 as also by the volume of the cavities7 and 14. However, experience shows that it is possible to adjust theatomisation in accordance with the fluidity and density of the liquid tohe atomised merely byyappro-priate choice of the dimensions of thecavity 14, that is to say, by the choice of the cap alone, the dimensionof the slots 11 and of the orifice 10 remaining unchanged. 7

In Figs. 6 and 7 an alternative embodiment of the present invention isillustrated. Referring to these figures there is shown an atomiser ofsimilar construction to that of Figs. 1-5 but having a head adapted tobe mounted and 'fixed on a receptacle without any screwthread, such asthat indicated at 5 in Figure 2, being required on the neck of thereceptacle or on the head. i

The omission of this screwhead results in a considerable simplificationof the moulds required to make the atomiser.

In this variant, the hole 4 for the discharge of the atomised jet isformed radially in the upper portion 6a of the head 1a and leads intothe central cavity 7 in the said part. The bottom of the head isprovided with an extension 24 adapted to be engaged in the manner of aplug in the neck 25 of the receptacle by bringing a shoulder 26 on thehead into contact with the rim of the receptacle.

The shoulder 26 is maintained against the rim by the action of the cap2a, and for this purpose the upper portion of the head is designed inthe form of a truncated cone and the plug 2a is mounted thereon. Thecapis terminated at its lower end by a cylindrical portion 2b adapted tosurround the neck 25.

The cap is held in position on the neck by the engagement of the annularbead 27 in a groove 28 in the neck, the positioning of these elementsbeing defined in such manner that the plug'Za urges the shoulder 26'resiliently against the rim of the receptacle, the said rim beingadvantageously trued to permit perfect contact with the shoulder 26.

The cylindrical portion 2b of the cap is formed with ribs 19facilitating the rotation of the cap to bring its orifice 3a and theslot 16 into a position opposite the hole 4, or to oflset them from thesaid hole 4 so as'to close the latter.

As in the embodiment of Figs. 1 5, the extreme positions of the cap aredefined by the boss 21 encountering one or other of the abutments 22'and 23 (Figure 7) It may be advantageous with a view to avoidingsimultaneous rotation of the head in" relation to the neck of thereceptacle when the cap is rotated, for the head to be held fast inrelation to the neck, for exampleby means of ribs 29 engaged in grooves31} of the receptacle (Figure 6).

In addition, in this. case that portion of the head in which the orifice10 and the apertures 11 are formed is a separate part fitted into thesaid head. The base of the cavity 7 is closed by disc 31 (Figure 6)formed with the apertures 11 and engaged by friction in the centralrecess 24a in the extension 24, the said disc (which may consist ofmetal or of any other material) being fast with the tubular member 8 inwhich is engaged the plunger tube 9 communicating with the hole 10.

In this case, not only is the moulding of the head simplified, but it ispossible to adjust the dimensions of the apertures 11 and of the orifice10 in accordance with the liquid employed. The operation is the same asbefore, the'jet's of air which leave the aperture 11 being deflectedtowards the central jet of liquid by the shoulder 11a of the cavity 7.The hole 4 for the discharge of the atomised jet may, if desired, belined by a small bushing consisting of metal or any other materialdifierent from -that of the head 1 or 1a. p

I claim:

1. An atomizer comprising a flexible-walled receptacle containing aliquid and having a neck; a hollow head adapted to be connected withsaid neck, said head having an open ended tubular upper part whose wallis formed with a radial discharge orifice'and a partition between saidupper part and the interior of said receptacle, said partition having anaxial tubular inwardly directed projection axially opening in said upperpart through an atomizing orifice, and being aperture'd with 'airpassages distributed around said projection; a plunger pipe tightlycjonn 'ited "to said tubular projection; and 'a cap having a cylindricalportion rotatably received'i'n said tubular upper part, said portionhaving a cylindrical, axial inner recess passages open into said tubularupper part transversely with respect to the said atomizing opening.

3. An atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said head is closely fittedinto said neck, and said peripheral skirt portion encircles said neckand is rotatably connected thereto throughperipher'al rib and grooveengagement.

4. An atomizer according to claim 1 wherein the internal radius of saidopen tubular upper partof the head is smaller than the radius of acircle projected by joining the external walls of said air passagesdistributed around the atomizing orifice, and wherein the upper wallsdefining said air passages are formed by inner lateral recesses in thecavity ofsaid tubular upper part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,542,563 Liberthal-. June 16, 1925 2,534,139, McLaughlin Dec. 12, 19502,573,73 1 Ryberg Nov. 6,, 1951 2,631,064 Tupper .'Mar..10, 19532,791,358 Gaertner May'7, 1957 2,801,029 Bretz July 30, 1957

